


Protective Charm

by tsumekakusu



Series: Excerpt [5]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Explosions, Guns, Injury, M/M, Not as angsty as it sounds, Protective Midorima, Violence, spy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 00:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14800524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsumekakusu/pseuds/tsumekakusu
Summary: “I only have two left. One for me, and one for you.”





	Protective Charm

“Shoot, I only have two left. You?” 

There’s no answer. He panics. 

“Shin-chan, you better not-”

“I have none.”

“What?” 

“I don’t have anymore left, Takao.”

“You of all people should know-!” 

“I know.” 

Takao wants to be angry. He wants to scold Midorima for being stupid enough to run out of bullets  _ in enemy territory _ , but he’s exhausted. He’s parched. And he’s gonna bleed out if they don’t make it back to base within the next hour. 

“When did you-?”

“Two hours ago. I used up my last one to take down the guy who shot you.” 

“You wasted a bullet on-!” 

He stops when Midorima grabs his arm. “I didn’t waste it.” He feels the other’s hand slide down his arm, and sighs before letting him intertwine their fingers. 

“You know I can’t shoot like this.” He twirls his pistol in his left hand, grimacing as pain shoots through his arm.  _ Shit, my wrist better not be broken.  _

“We’re only a few kilometers from the helicopter,” Midorima answers, gently taking the pistol from his partner. He checks the number of bullets left, and his lips tighten into a thin line. 

“I told you, I only have two left.” 

_ One for me, and one for you. _

He tries to take his pistol back, but Midorima tightens his grip around the handle, his index finger brushing against the trigger. 

“Hey-!” 

One shot rings clear throughout the seemingly empty meadow. There’s a muffled thud as a body meets tall grass. 

“You just gave our position away,” Takao sighs, but he knows what Midorima’s doing. 

_ If we can’t fight at long range, then it’s better for them to come to us.  _

The hand in his squeezes once before slowly unfurling out of his grip. He watches as his partner quickly reconstructs his rifle and he takes this chance to reclaim his pistol. 

“Only one bullet left.”

“So now neither of us can get caught,” Midorima whispers, his eyes surveying the wide field. He eyes the two hills on the opposite side of the clearing, carefully watching for any movement.

“You have the weirdest reasoning, you know that?” Takao tries to move his legs into a crouch, but hisses as he jostles his injured leg. 

Midorima rips off another piece of his shirt, swiftly tying it around the already soaked makeshift bandage around Takao’s right calf. 

“Can you run?” Midorima asks, his eyes roaming Takao’s body. Takao smirks, a teasing comment curling on his tongue, but it dissipates as a soft groan escapes his lips. 

“I’ll take that as a-”

“Yes,” Takao swings his leg up and forces himself to sit in a crouch. He scoots closer to his partner, peeking over the bush to see three enemy soldiers slowly making their way toward them. 

“I’ll cover you,” Takao whispers. “There’s a breach in their wall fifty meters to the right of the gate. Looks like Miyaji-senpai left us an escape route.” He puts his pistol back in its holster, using both hands to hoist himself into a more comfortable kneeling position. 

“I’m not leaving you behind,” Midorima whispers softly. He moves to grab Takao’s hand again, but Takao lays both hands on Midorima’s shoulders, making him look into his eyes. 

“You’re good at long range and defense. I’m good at short range and scouting,” Takao whispers, squeezing the other’s shoulders. “And honestly, I’m not sure if I’m up for combat in this state,” he chuckles dryly, one hand moving back toward his pistol.

“ETA of the three soldiers?” Midorima mutters.

“There’re five now, and three minutes,” Takao answers, fiddling with something in his pocket. 

Midorima’s eyes are naturally drawn toward Takao’s hands, and something brightens in them. “Do you still have the omamori I gave you when we were first deployed?”

“You mean this?” Takao reveals the protective charm in his hand, still playing with the long strings. “I’ve always wanted to ask you why it’s so heav-”

“Open it.”

“Aren’t charms supposed to not be-” He stops at his partner’s insistent stare and slowly unties the string at the top. “There’s a box inside...?” 

Midorima nods, prompting him to open it quickly. 

“Really Shin-chan?” He asks, but he can’t help but grin. He quickly grabs his pistol and reloads it with five bullets. “I  _ thought  _ it was bigger than usual, but who would’ve known?” 

“I meant to tell you earlier, but we needed to save them for an emergency situation.” 

“Like now?”

“Yeah. What’s their ETA?”

“Three on the left, two on the right. Thirty seconds for left and another minute for right.” 

“I got the left,” Midorima mutters, quickly sliding past Takao. 

“I got your back,” Takao whispers, “the two guards joined the soldiers, so it’ll be a clear sprint once we take them down.”

Midorima glances down at Takao’s calf, his eyes trailing lower to the blood pooling around Takao’s shoe. 

“I can’t feel it anymore,” Takao whispers, gripping his pistol tightly. 

Midorima wants to hug him. He wants to sweep him off his feet and carry him all the way back to base. But they’re still in enemy territory; they don’t know if they’ll be free of enemy fire even after passing the gate and-

“Ten, nine, eight-” 

Takao’s countdown forces Midorima to focus. He hears light footsteps cautiously making their way toward them. He’s tempted to jump out and attack, but he doesn’t want to alert the two soldiers on the right side of their exact location, yet. 

“Three, two, one-”

A gun barely misses his face as the first soldier rounds the corner. He makes quick work of him, using the tip of his rifle to hit his pressure point. The next soldier is less lucky, as the sniper flips his rifle around, using the heavy barrel to incapacitate him. 

“Watch-” 

He hears two gunshots right after he swings his rifle like a bat and hits the last guard straight in the solar plexus. He panics for a second before he turns around to see Takao with a grim smile. Another shot echoes around them as the last soldier falls to the ground, still tightly gripping his bruised abdomen. 

“Shit.” Takao’s hands shake as he struggles to stand. 

“Anyone in sight?” 

“No, but there’s a commotion on the other side of the wall. Hopefully, it’s one of our- Fuck!” Takao’s grip tightens until his knuckles contrast greatly with the dark gun. His grip tightens even further as he attempts to put weight on his right leg. He can’t hold back another curse as pain shoots through his whole body. 

Various thoughts swirl through Midorima’s mind, but he’s hyperfocused on one as his body reacts to Takao’s pained grunts. 

“Wait, Shin-chan-!” 

“Status report,” Midorima tries to stay professional, but worry seeps into his voice. His speed nearly doubles as he sprints toward the breach in the wall. 

“Still a commotion near the wall, but they’re most likely on our side.” 

“Good.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to-!” He’s cut off by Midorima’s worried glare. He sighs before shifting around to get more comfortable. Midorima adjusts his grip around Takao’s back and knees, curling his arms tighter around the other. 

“I’ve never been princess carried before,” Takao whispers. His whole body is still on high alert and the grip on his gun never wavers. “Never thought you’d be the type to- Hngh.” 

“Sorry,” Midorima breathes out, carefully jumping over another tree branch. “Status report?”

“One person’s heading towards us, but I think that’s-”

An explosion booms from not too far away. 

“Miyaji-senpai,” Takao breathes out, his body relaxing a bit as a familiar figure makes its way toward them. 

“What the fuck happened to you two?!” Miyaji screams, stopping when he sees Takao’s slightly limp form. 

“Is it clear all the way to base?” Midorima asks, sprinting past Miyaji.

“Hey-! You-!” Miyaji hurries after them. 

“Is it clear all the way to-”

“Yeah, just- Did you get the-”

“We got the notebook.”

“Does it have-”

“I looked through it twice and yeah, it has everything.” Takao grits his teeth at the jolt of  Midorima somehow sprinting even faster. 

“Is Takao-”

“He’s going to be fine,” Midorima cuts him off, barely winded. Beads of sweat drip down his face, dragging some grime along before they fall to the ground. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“I love you too, Shin-chan,” Takao whispers, kissing his boyfriend’s cheek. He laughs as Midorima sputters, laughing louder when his partner almost trips over another tree branch. 

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe this is my first KnB fanfic, not to mention my first MidoTaka fanfic! (It's probably because I have too many WIPs :)  
> And of course, I had to start it off with some 'angst with a happy ending,' lolz
> 
> (Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of the characters!  
> Thanks so much for reading! ^o^)


End file.
